Apple Tv 4 Feels like a Beta Product

[wlossw]

I just installed mine yesterday in my living room to replace an apple tv 3...

It wasn't anything in particular, but for my use case, (plex player, shared photo streams, home sharing) I was surprised how unpolished the whole thing felt.

The setup was frustrating, asking me for the same iCloud info over and over, and home sharing, photos and iCloud music library all froze or hung during setup...

not to mention when i return to the home screen from an app, and then return to the app (I'm looking at you plex) i'm often greeted by a blank screen or loading wheel that requires button presses that are not evident to get working..

Im not going to return it, because I know they are going to fix the hiccups... but considering how long we have been between refreshes, you would think they would have the thing more polished...

Not to mention ZERO content outside the USA (here in Canada its basically netflix, iTunes, and some crap called Crave...)

 

[Idgit]

Yeah, it makes you think, "WTF has Apple been doing all this time?" Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable and steady decline in Apple's software quality. Apple bloggers, Apple developers, and Apple users are complaining about it. I really hope their software starts to improve.

 

[APlotdevice]

it definitely feels like a product they rushed out to compete with the newer set top boxes from Amazon and the like this holiday season.

Then again the initial launches from Apple are often flawed. The iPhone didn't originally have an App Store. The first iPod touch had no physical volume buttons. The first iPad mini ran older hardware. The first MacBook Air only had one awkwardly placed USB port. The first MacBook Retina only has one port for everything.

 

[T5BRICK]

I just installed mine yesterday in my living room to replace an apple tv 3...

It wasn't anything in particular, but for my use case, (plex player, shared photo streams, home sharing) I was surprised how unpolished the whole thing felt.

The setup was frustrating, asking me for the same iCloud info over and over, and home sharing, photos and iCloud music library all froze or hung during setup...

not to mention when i return to the home screen from an app, and then return to the app (I'm looking at you plex) i'm often greeted by a blank screen or loading wheel that requires button presses that are not evident to get working..

Im not going to return it, because I know they are going to fix the hiccups... but considering how long we have been between refreshes, you would think they would have the thing more polished...

Not to mention ZERO content outside the USA (here in Canada its basically netflix, iTunes, and some crap called Crave...)

Have you given feedback to Apple? Complaining on Macrumors isn't going to accomplish much.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

For the record, I really like mine. It's a good step up from the Apple TV 3.

 

[wlossw]

Have you given feedback to Apple? Complaining on Macrumors isn't going to accomplish much.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

For the record, I really like mine. It's a good step up from the Apple TV 3.

Maybe I'm just grumpy because the thing cost me over 300 bucks with sales tax, so I was expecting it to be more stable and polished.

- and I love complaining on macrumors

 

[T5BRICK]

Maybe I'm just grumpy because the thing cost me over 300 bucks with sales tax, so I was expecting it to be more stable and polished.

I haven't had any issues with stability on mine, but I'm not using the plex app either.

- and I love complaining on macrumors

That's fine and dandy, but it won't cause Apple to change anything.

 

[Dobbs2]

I just installed mine yesterday in my living room to replace an apple tv 3...

not to mention when i return to the home screen from an app, and then return to the app (I'm looking at you plex) i'm often greeted by a blank screen or loading wheel that requires button presses that are not evident to get working..

Have you tried updating the software on the apple tv, or your Plex server? What you describe with Plex isn't the norm. Do you have a dead spot or weak Lan connection. Plex has been buttery smooth for me and I have 10tbs of externals with exact bluray rips and Plex or the apple tv don't stutter and basically take a millisecond to load.

 

[wlossw]

Have you tried updating the software on the apple tv, or your Plex server? What you describe with Plex isn't the norm. Do you have a dead spot or weak Lan connection. Plex has been buttery smooth for me and I have 10tbs of externals with exact bluray rips and Plex or the apple tv don't stutter and basically take a millisecond to load.

Streaming has been great, it's just ui niggles... I am running all the latest software...

 

[tdale]

Yeah, it makes you think, "WTF has Apple been doing all this time?" Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable and steady decline in Apple's software quality. Apple bloggers, Apple developers, and Apple users are complaining about it. I really hope their software starts to improve.

I'm an Apple product lover and I agree 100%

 

[Starfia]

Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable and steady decline in Apple's software quality.

Really? Like, El Capitan is worse than Yosemite, which is worse than Mavericks? (Can we upgrade to Snow Leopard? ^_^ )

I guess I'm not seeing this decline. My Mac never crashes now, and I've always thought Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Pages, and the system apps were better than the previous ones; some of the free upgrades have been remarkable in what they add to the look and feel, content, and performance. Not to mention the software costs way, way less than it used to. It used to be, like, most of $1000 to get started with that stuff, and operating system upgrades were always paid.

The closest thing I can think of is that this change to AppleTV's new light-looking interface is the first one that's made me miss the previous one. But I think that's really the first ever.